Real Madrid: A Team Divided?

Petulance, lack of unity, a seemingly divided locker room—that is the Real Madrid of old, not the one that broke so many records last season.

So what is happening in the capital? This is basically the same team that was almost unbeatable last year.

Did Cristiano Ronaldo divide the team? Are the players underestimating their opponents? Are they complacent, even arrogant?

Jose Mourinho said he has no team right now. This is not a slow start due to poor form or fitness. There is legitimate cause for concern here.

Not only did Los Blancos get ripped apart by Jesus Navas and neutralized by Sevilla's midfield, they showed that they are starting to lose character.

Deserving champions or entitled babies?

Real reverted back to acting like a bunch of bratty children instead champions. Every players' face showed frustration, and the team demonstrated little discipline. That goes to the top, all the way to the coach.

Gonzalo Higuain was kicking people—Mourinho would have gone crazy if David Villa had avoided a red card for that.

Angel di Maria pulled another classic dive and appeared to take a swing at Ivan Rakitic, but as with the Higuain foul, it was the Sevilla man who earned a yellow card despite both players committing fouls.

Even Ronaldo got in on the act. In the last 10 minutes, the No. 7 took a dive in the box, but was not given a penalty. In a scene reminiscent of the 'old' Ronaldo, CR7 threw his hands up in frustration and looked very upset with the ref.

Find the solution and quick

Rather than whining about non-calls and losing their cool at the opposition for playing tough football, the Madrid players need to look in the mirror and try to get back on track.

Eight points is not insurmountable, but going down 11 points after a Clasico is right on the cusp.

Let's see if Jose Mourinho can right the ship in time to beat Manchester City when the English champs roll in to the Bernabeu this week.

Refs Continue to Cost Espanyol

I'm not one to blame referees for losses, but it is getting hard not to make excuses for Espanyol.

For the second time this season, Los Blanquiblaus were undone by some terrible decisions from the referee, which resulted in the team finishing the match with 10 men.

After scoring Los Periquitos' third goal to put his team back out in front of Athletic Bilbao, Samuele Longo ran into the stands to embrace the fans.

When he came back to restart the match, he received a second yellow that forced him out of the match. It of course swung the momentum back in the favor of Los Leones.

This comes just two weeks after a dubious red card forced Jordi Albin out of Espanyol's match against Zaragoza.

That decision sent Los Periquitos down to ten men and, more importantly, again swung momentum away from them after they had been in control of the match.

No excuses?

When discussing why Espanyol are currently in the relegation zone with just one point in four matches, there are more reasons than red cards and poor decisions.

But there is no avoiding the fact that the Catalan club is much better than its record shows right now. If not for those highly contentious calls, El Magico could be in the middle of the table rather than in the bottom three of La Liga.

Big Win for Valencia, but Team Still Struggling

First off, it must be said that Valencia's 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo at la Mestalla was a big one.

Los Che started their league campaign with two disappointing draws before getting beaten by Barcelona before the international break.

Even though they had not gotten results, the team was upbeat because they had played better than the results had shown. This match showed that the mentality was justified.

However, Mauricio Pellegrini's men still have not played 90 minutes of good football.

For most of the first half, Los Che were unable to break down an inferior Celta team. They could not get time on the ball and when they had it, the counterattack was cut off swiftly.

The midfield worked much harder in the second half, but Valencia would have liked a much better result going into Wednesday's Champions League match with Bayern Munich.

If Roberto Soldado & Co. are going to have any chance of beating the German giants, the defense will need to play better, the midfield has to be much more aggressive and the Spanish striker has to be much more clinical in front of goal.

Messi Breaking Away

It is obviously far too early to start engraving the Pichichi trophy, but right now, Barcelona's No. 10 is outclassing every forward player in Spain.

In his last match against Getafe, the Argentinian came on at the hour mark and proceeded to score two goals in four minutes. He and David Villa completely changed the outcome of the match, as I discussed in my match review.

He currently has as many goals as 15 La Liga teams. He is on pace to break his own scoring record set just last season.

It is unlikely that he will reach those numbers again this term, but the rate at which Messi is scoring can only be seen as a good thing for La Blaugrana.

He is currently leading Radamel Falcao and Tomer Hemed by two goals despite not really playing a full match at top form yet.

If Cristiano Ronaldo is going to have any chance at catching Messi, he will need to start scoring quickly, and even then he will need the South American to slow down.

If not, Messi will win his second-straight Pichichi trophy and could also be dominant enough to retain his Ballon d'Or.

Goal of the Week—Portillo

Malaga had been in control of their battle against Levante for much of the match, but Los Granotes kept threatening and looked like they were going to give Malaga a last-minute heartbreaker.

Instead, with only minutes remaining in the match, Portillo stepped up to be the hero.

Joaquin had broken free down the left flank and managed to send a cross deep into the box. Portillo latched onto the ball and the midfielder somehow volleyed the ball between two defenders and past the keeper into the top corner of the net.

As you can see in the video, the clincher sent La Rosadela into a frenzy as the volley sent Los Boquerones into second place in the league.